Free Parking in Topsail Island - 2024 guide to enjoying the beach for the day!

The question of where to park at the beach gets asked so many times in all our local group posts and social feeds that we thought it would be helpful to publish that information in a straightforward guide here. We’re including advice to parking at the public beach accesses in all three towns that make up Topsail Island: North Topsail Beach, Surf City, and Topsail Beach.

Topsail Island is a 26 mile barrier island in southeastern North Carolina located about halfway between the cities of Wilmington and Jacksonville.

Three towns make up the island: North Topsail Beach on the north end, Surf City in the middle of the island, and the town of Topsail Beach on the southern portion of the island. I’ll break down all that I know of the parking at public beach accesses throughout each town and where to find the FREE spots!!

NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH

If you are coming to the beach for the day from Jacksonville NC, or staying just over the NTB bridge in Snead’s Ferry, then you will want to know that there are THREE FREE PARKING beach accesses, with a lot of parking spots, maintained by Onslow county. These are county run, so the usual parking fees required by the town of North Topsail Beach do not apply.

All three of these public beach accesses are in North Topsail Beach, have bathrooms, showers, and the larger two even have concession stands open during peak season. These beach accesses are run as part of the county parks and recreation system and are open from 8am-8pm

Beach Access #1 (smallest of the 3 with around 30 parking spots) - 1759 New River Inlet Rd in North Topsail Beach
*This access is close to the northernmost point on the island
Beach Access #2 (around 200 parking spaces) - 2950 Island Drive in North Topsail Beach
*This access is pretty close to the Surf City border
Beach Access #4 (over 100 parking spots) - 484 New River Inlet Rd in North Topsail Beach
*This is north of the NTB bridge but about a mile after the turn north on New River Inlet

These lots are completely free but as you can imagine, can get pretty crowded every day during the summer. If you plan to spend the whole day at one of these accesses during the summer, its a good idea to get there early. There are small gates at the entrances that county officials will open and close (open from 8am-8pm). I have seen the gates open after hours, but it’s worth noting that you may not be able to get into the lots before 8am if the gate is down.

If the county run NTB beach accesses are too crazy for you, there are a lot of beautiful, quiet spots throughout North Topsail Beach that you can use any time.

Remember that every other public beach access in North Topsail Beach is PAID PARKING and you will need the SurfCast app to pay for your time unless you are parked in one of the 3 Onslow County lots mentioned above.

Parking fines are enforced year round in North Topsail Beach from 9am - 5pm. Here is the NTB town link to parking information.

SURF CITY

Surf City is in the heart of Topsail Island (Surf City also encompasses part of the mainland along Hwy 50 and Hwy 210 just off the island), and where most visitors and residents enter and leave the island — over the big Surf City bridge with pedestrian walkway and roundabouts at each end.

Surf City has been our home for over 10 years now, and is home to beaches I have been lucky enough to enjoy my entire life. Many of you will remember our beloved Swingbridge (disassembled in Dec 2018 after the high rise bridge was dedicated). When the new bridge opened, it diverted the traffic patterns away from Roland Avenue, which used to be how everyone got on to the island. Roland Ave is much quieter now, but now has lots of additional parking options for walking around Soundside park and central Surf City.

As of 2024, Parking is FREE during the off season in Surf City public lots from Nov 1st - Feb 28th, and once the season begins on March 1st, all of the lots are paid from 9am-6pm.

Most parking areas are $5/hour, but a few are $3/hour (on Roland Ave it is $3/hour with time limits). There are free passes available for Surf City Residents, business owners and long term renters, as well as discounted passes for others renting property within the town. For non-residents there are also one-time seasonal parking decals available to purchase.

You will need to PIVOTparking app to pay for parking by the hour in Surf City (there are also daily and weekly options). Here is the town’s official information page for parking regulations in the paid season.

While paying for parking is one of those inevitable chores in life, the good news is that the town of Surf City has created a lot of well maintained parking areas throughout the town borders on the island. In addition to the large public lots around Roland Avenue and the Surf City Ocean Pier area, most every public access in Surf City has parking availability (the exception being on the stretch of South Shore Drive south of Quarterhorse Drive where the public beach accesses tend to only have pedestrian access).

Our advice is that if you are wanting to drive in to Surf City, and the big parking lots closest to the bridge and pier are full, just drive a bit in either direction and you will likely find lots of spaces both right at the public beach access or sprinkled on side streets nearby.

TOPSAIL BEACH

The Town of Topsail Beach is the southern portion of Topsail Island. Since a lot of visitors refer to all of the beaches in Topsail Island as “Topsail Beach”…it can be a bit confusing that the town of Topsail Beach itself is only located on the south end of the island. You may also hear some people refer to Topsail Beach as “south Topsail.”

While it is my personal opinion that every single mile of beach on TI is beautiful, Topsail Beach may have the edge in the most beautiful landscape. Due to natural erosion patterns and the nature of ever-shifting sands on a barrier island, the beach on Topsail Beach keeps growing. The beaches are wide, expansive, and it easy to have your own little corner of the ocean for a day with few disturbances.

Parking is FREE year round in Topsail Beach, except for the one parking lot at Serenity Point (southernmost point of the island accessible on the sound side).

Topsail Beach considered adding paid parking in all of its lots for 2024, but ultimately the town voted against it, and this is huge WIN for our community of beachgoers.

Here is the town of Topsail Beach’s parking information, and here you can find a list of public beach accesses in Topsail Beach here and we’ve copied that information here. Note that not many of the accesses in TB have bathrooms or showers, but there are some that have both.

Every single single lot that has parking spots is completely free all year long!!!

If the town decides to change this policy in 2025, we will update this post, but for now, in 2024 — get on that free beachin!

Topsail Beach is cutest little beach town and totally worth the drive to the south end of the island. There are restaurants, gift shops, mini golf, a skating rink, a museum and miles of gorgeous beach to enjoy.

Make a day of it, head to Topsail Beach, and spend those precious extra dollars on snacks, souvenirs, and happy memories rather than on parking fees.

As we mentioned above, the one parking lot in Topsail Beach you do have to pay for is at Serenity Point.

The Serenity Point parking lot is located at the end of Shore Line Drive and Inlet Drive. You will need the SurfCast by Otto app to pay for your parking fees there. You should also be aware that Serenity Point is the spot for viewing sunsets over the sound, for casual fishing, and for gentle wading waters to swim in, so the parking lot does fill up, especially at the end of the day.

When I have portrait sessions at Serenity Point, I often arrive early, park for free off of Ocean Blvd (past the Sea Vista hotel) and just walk to the parking lot Serenity point. Its a pleasant walk and saves me the stress of knowing if there is space open at the Serenity Point lot, as well as saving on the parking fees. If someone in your party has mobility issues, then we recommend allowing extra time to secure your parking spot at the Serenity Point lot.

PSA: As calm as the water is near the parking lot along the sound near Serenity Point, no one should EVER swim in the channel areas at the very end of the island. This is where the sound meets the ocean— and the currents there are way too dangerous for any swimmers. Since Serenity Point has grown in size over the years (as shifting sand has added acreage on the south end), the dangerous channel areas at the very southern tip of the island is a good 15 minute stroll from the parking lot and marked with red flags in the water. Seriously, do not swim where the inlet, sound, and ocean meet (the same goes for on the North end inlet)!

However, the waters are generally quite gentle in the 1/2 mile, or more, of sound front closest the parking lot, and very popular with families and fishermen, especially in the summer.